Indonesia may import 1m tons of rice in 2001

Indonesia may import 1m tons of rice in 2001

JAKARTA (Reuters): Indonesia, traditionally one of the world's
biggest rice buyers, is expected to slash rice imports this year
because of a good domestic crop and abundant stocks, traders said
on Thursday.

The country is seen importing a maximum of one million tons of
rice in 2001, far below the 2.5 million it bought last year,
traders said.

Lower imports would likely hit Thailand and Vietnam, the
world's number one and two rice exporters, they added.

"I expect the (import) number will be very, very small. We see
Indonesia having a good crop this year," said one trader at an
international trade house in Jakarta.

"At best, total imports should not be more than one million
tons," he added.

Traders said Bulog bought one million tons of last year's 2.5
million tons of imports. They said Indonesia imported around 3.6
million tons of rice in 1999.

State commodity regulator Bulog reiterated last week it would
not import rice this year due to heavy stocks resulting from the
last harvest. The agency is assigned to buy rice from farmers
during the harvest to stabilize prices.

Indonesia's statistics bureau forecast on Tuesday the country
would produce 50.08 million tons of unhusked rice this year, down
from 51.18 million tons in 2000, due to fewer plantings and lower
productivity.

But traders said there would be ample stocks even if the crop
was smaller or damaged.

"If we look at the total stocks available in Indonesia today
including Bulog's, in terms of the total supply, Indonesia is in
a very, very comfortable situation," another Jakarta-based trader
said.

One trader in the East Java capital of Surabaya said: "Bulog's
stocks are now over one million tons. They will buy rice from
farmers, not import."

Traders said freshly-harvested rice was starting to flow with
Indonesia's main rice harvest underway in Java island and soon to
begin in Sumatra and other islands.

Farmers have blamed a recent easing of domestic prices on a
small influx of cheap imports.

Farmers in Java said they were forced to sell their crop at
900 rupiah/kg, much less than 1,500 rupiah/kg set by price
regulator Bulog.

Farmers are not permitted to sell all their crop to Bulog.

According to data from Vietnam's Saigon Port, four vessels are
expected to ship 7,300 tons of 15 percent broken whites to
Indonesia this week.

Traders said they were surprised Vietnam and Thailand were
exporting rice to Indonesia as it was not profitable.

"Prices of Vietnam and Thai rice are low right now but with
the rupiah rate at 9,600 against the dollar and with a 30 percent
import duty, imports are not profitable," the source at the
international trading house said.

Indonesia slapped a 30 percent import duty on rice in January
2000 to protect local farmers from cheap imports.